Russia’s Strength Is Its Weakness

How Putin sows division in America

by Dominic TierneyJul 21, 20183 minutes

Source: Sputnik Photo Agency / Reuters

If you watched the body language of President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, at their recent summit in Helsinki, you might have wondered: Which man leads a superpower? After all, Trump represents a country that is far stronger than Putin’s Russia. This is the paradox of Russian power—Moscow is influential precisely because it’s weak.

We often take it for granted that the greater a country’s economic and military resources, the greater its influence. But more capabilities doesn’t always mean